The New Jersey Devils (4-2-0) were unable to win their third straight with a 4-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center on Tuesday night. The Devils continued their struggles against the Metropolitan Division foe to drop their second game of the season. The Hurricanes picked up their first win of the season.
Game Summary
First Period
It was a relatively uneventful first period in Raleigh on Tuesday with neither team opening the scoring. Shots were almost even with Carolina taking a slight advantage 8-7. The Devils had a few good scoring chances, but one of the most notable came from leading-goal scorer Paul Cotter with around 13:00 left in the period.
Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom stood up in the first, making a string of quality. Markstrom stopped Sebastian Aho right in front off a good feed from Andrei Svechnikov during a Hurricanes’ surge mid-way through the first.
On a two-on-one, defenseman Dougie Hamilton did just enough to disrupt Eric Robinson on a scoring chance with just under 7:00 to go in the period. Before the end of the period, Markstrom did a good job again denying Jackson Blake right in front on a quality scoring chance.
Second Period
The second period is where things got interesting. The scoring started as Jack Hughes finally got on the board with his first goal of the season. Hughes came in on down the right side on a two-on-two with Timo Meier. He skated through the slot to build a nice natural screen in front of goalie Pyotr Kochetkov before rifling a shot on net that got through for his first of the season.
Then, just before the 9:00 mark of the period, Hurricanes center Seth Jarvis made a nice move on a turnaround snap shot that beat Markstrom to make it 1-1. Prior to that, Markstrom had made a string of quality saves to keep the Devils in the lead.
Perhaps the turning point in the game was with under 1:00 left in the period. The Devils were unable to clear the zone, which set up defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere for a goal to make it 2-1.
The Hurricanes outshot the Devils 13-7 in the second period.
Third Period
Markstrom kept the Devils in the game yet again with a brilliant stop on Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal on a short breakaway early in the third period.
The Devils nearly tied the game but an unfortunate stick by Cotter slowed a backdoor pass to Erik Haula that could have been the equalizer at around 15:30 of the third. And even if Cotter gets that pass clean, it could have resulted in his fifth goal of the season.
The Hurricanes would further pull ahead 3-1 on a goal by Jackson Blake on a tip from a shot by Dmitry Orlov with 9:44 left in the period. It was Blake’s first career NHL goal after he forced his way onto Carolina’s roster before the start of the season.
The Devils would make things interesting again with a five-on-three man-advantage late in the period. Captain Nico Hischier took a feed from Hughes and fired a shot from the side of the net on a sharp angle to beat Kochetkov and make it 3-2.
With an empty net late in the game, the Devils had a bad change that resulted in an empty-net goal for Aho to seal the win for Carolina.
The Hurricanes would outshoot the Devils 31-25 in the game overall. Carolina was a bit more advantageous and maintain possession with the Devils a bit sluggish on the tail end of a back-to-back.
Games Notes
Struggles Versus Carolina
Considering the Devils were finishing up the back-to-back and have played a lot of hockey in the first couple weeks of the season, being able to steal a point late in the game was surprising. The Devils got worked most of the night and the advanced statistics showed it. The Hurricanes nearly had a 60.00-40.00 breakout in terms of Corsi-for percentage at five-on-five.
New Jersey has struggled with Carolina for years, more specifically, getting swept last season in three games. However, going to 4-2-0 on the season is fine, given how much they have already been forced to play.
Strong Game By Markstrom
Another bright spot was the play of Markstrom, who made 27 saves. If you check out the heat map over on Natural Stat Trick, you can see Markstrom was facing high-danger chances around the net all game. To keep the Devils in the game with a chance to tie it late in the third was a gift.
Specifically, Markstrom stopped 0.51 goals above expected. The second start this season where he’s stopped more goals than expected according to Natural Stat Trick’s expected goal model.
What’s Next?
the Devils are back in action, at home, Thursday night against the Ottawa Senators.